Diabetic neuropathy is a painful and common complication of diabetes that may affect many aspects of your life by severely limiting your daily functions. Neuropathy is the damage the body’s nerves, while diabetic neuropathy is the damage to the nerves that comes as a result of diabetes.
It is believed that this condition is caused by a diabetic’s prolonged high levels of blood glucose. Diabetic neuropathy can affect most parts of the body, and its symptoms may range from mild to severe.

Symptoms

The pain caused by diabetic neuropathy is mostly described as numbness, tingling pain, and pain that increases due to touch. Similarly, this kind of pain may also be described as stabbing or burning. The pain resulting from diabetic neuropathy is typically greater at night than during the day. The condition is known to affect mostly the lower legs and feet; though, it may affect the hands as well. Diabetic neuropathy is progressive and chronic in nature. Diabetic neuropathy pain can affect most of the patient’s life, including mood and ability to work.

Diagnosis

Diabetic neuropathy is diagnosed clinically using the patient’s symptoms and medical history. There are also other tests that ultimately diagnose the condition by measuring the loss of the nerve function. Nerve conduction tests the speed caused by the nerve signals in the legs and arms, while electromyography tests the electrical discharges from the muscles. About 46 percent to 50 percent of the patients suffering from diabetes are usually diagnosed with some form of neuropathy at some stage in their lives.

Treatments

Though diabetic neuropathy cannot be cured, there is a broad range of treatments available to help the patients manage the symptoms. One objective of treatment is keeping the blood glucose levels under manageable controls by combining diet and medication to prevent the neuropathy from worsening. Many scientific studies indicate the management of blood glucose levels to have the most impact concerning symptoms and worsening of the pain.
Sometimes, the pain resulting from diabetic neuropathy can be managed with some medications. Notably, some specific prescriptive anti-seizure medications and antidepressants have been indicated to be helpful in relieving the pain that results from the nerves.